Collaborative regulation of e-Governments in Africa

Collaborative regulation of e-Governments in Africa

As e-governance and digitalization is gaining momentum in Africa, public and private sector players, regional organizations, and civil society engage in the process of digital transformation. This brings about the issue of a regulatory environment to ensure interoperability, cybersecurity, data protection, and public trust in digital government services.

Collaborative regulation of e-Governance is essential to ensure that digital government services are efficient, inclusive, secure, and adaptable to technological advancements. Nevertheless, a range of challenges in implementation of regulations stem from political, technological, financial, and infrastructural barriers, making it difficult to create a harmonized and effective digital regulatory framework.

Fragmented regulatory frameworks and policy inconsistencies pose a significant challenge to creation of harmonised collaborative regulations of e-governance. In many African countries, different regulatory bodies, ministries, and agencies often work in silos, making collaboration difficult. Among the stakeholders typically included in the process of government digital transformation are government ministries, legislature, the judiciary and law enforcement agencies, central banks, the Attorney General, county governments, and cross-sector regulators.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) notes that ICT sector regulation is increasingly being integrated with related industries, such as media and the Internet. Furthermore, digitalization increasingly influences and integrates with various sectors such as logistics and energy, thus cross-institutional cooperation becomes essential for maintaining regulatory consistency across industries. 

The scope of collaboration refers to whether ICT or telecommunications regulators coordinate with agencies overseeing competition, consumer protection, finance, energy, broadcasting, spectrum management, and Internet governance. Meanwhile, the degree of collaboration examines whether regulators engage through informal partnerships, formal agreements, or hybrid regulatory frameworks. 

75% of the telecommunications market in Africa is controlled by international corporations including MTN, Vodacom, Airtel, Orange, e& (ex-Etisalat). They account for 85% of all mobile subscribers on the continent. National or African operators are dominant in Namibia (99%, MTC Namibia and Telecom Namibia), Cabo Verde (100%, Cabo Verde Telecom under the brand Alou and Unitel T+ (Angola)), Ethiopia (94%, Ethio Telecom), Algeria (73%, Mobilis and Djezzy). Antitrust regulations for the ICT sector have not found wide recognition on the continent yet, however some of the nations opt for collaborative approaches to address the issue. In 2022, five African countries – Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Mauritius and South Africa – held a meeting to discuss cooperation in regulating competition in the digital markets of the continent. 

Based on the World Bank’s GovTech metadata, integration projects in African countries are focused mainly on the isolated sectors (healthcare, finance, customs and digital ID) and many African countries report a low degree of overall integration of e-government systems and services. Legal interoperability and changing government regulations are among the major barriers to public e-services integration. 

As of March 2023, 11 African countries had operational e-government interoperability frameworks (eGIF) whilst 13 had draft eGIFs, leaving 30 countries (55%) without a systematic integration framework for digital services and systems. Eight countries developed an enterprise architecture framework (EAF) and five drafted one. 76% of African countries do not have an EAF at all. 

In Kenya, regulatory collaboration in terms of digital transformation is included into policy and regulatory frameworks across all sectors.  Despite that, the Government identified key challenges regarding collaborative approach. Some of the challenges include insufficient awareness of the current regulatory structure among key stakeholders and industry regulators, efforts to enhance competition in specific economic sectors where dominant market players or state-owned enterprises exist (such as the Communications Authority), and issues related to financial constraints and an overly extensive scope of responsibilities (as seen with the ICT Authority).

Based on the Regulatory Framework Index developed by Luis Gutierrez, the extent of collaboration in regulatory implementation depends on the degree of separation between telecommunications service providers and regulatory functions. Key characteristics of independent telecommunications regulatory agencies include 1) autonomy (financial independence and restrictions on government intervention in replacing regulators) ; 2) accountability (presence of mechanisms for resolving disputes between regulators and service providers); 3) clearly defined roles (including the authority to set tariffs and impose fines or penalties on operators); and 4) transparency and stakeholder participation in the regulatory decision-making process. Another important feature is whether the establishment of the regulatory body, or the division between operational and regulatory functions, was legally mandated or based on an official directive, such as a presidential decree.

Financial constraints and limited investment in digital regulation is another challenge associated with fragmented regulations. As many African governments struggle with budget constraints, limiting funding for digital infrastructure and regulatory agencies, private sector investment in digital governance is low due to unclear policies and regulatory risks. A lack of coordinated regulation can lead to overlapping responsibilities among agencies, causing redundant processes and increased administrative workloads. In Tanzania, for example, e-government development processes are undermined by insufficient government-wide laws and regulations with standards for ICT procurement, and insufficient laws and regulations to ensure sustainable use of technologies in the public sector. 

Absence of unified regulatory standards for digital initiatives limit opportunities for cross-border digital integration. Despite the African Union’s Digital Transformation Strategy and Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection (Malabo Convention), which aim to harmonise digital policies in African countries by establishing common rules in the field of personal data protection, e-commerce, and cybersecurity, many African countries still have separate and conflicting data protection laws, making regional interoperability and data transfers challenging.

Solutions

The G5 Collaborative Regulation framework, developed by the ITU and introduced in 2020, represents a fifth-generation (G5) regulatory model designed to promote a holistic, cross-sector, and cooperative approach to digital regulation. It builds on previous regulatory generations (G1 – G4) by integrating multi-stakeholder governance, fostering innovation-friendly policies, and ensuring digital inclusion.

ITU categorizes regulatory approaches into five generations, where G1 stands for command and control regulation, G2 identifies market liberalization, G3 refers to enabling regulation, and G4 means integrated regulation and converged regulatory bodies. The main features of G5, or collaborative approach to regulation, is cross-sector collaboration, which includes ICT, finance, education, health, and other sectors which benefit from the use of digital services. Innovation-driven policies which support regulatory sandboxes, pro-innovation frameworks, and agile governance models to adapt to emerging technologies like AI, blockchain, and 5G, are also a necessary part of collective regulation. 

The G5 Benchmark component structure is based on four pillars, namely national collaborative governance (regulatory collaboration in digital core areas, cross-sector institutional cooperation), policy design principles (regulatory design procedures and transparency), digital development toolbox (digital strategy for development in such areas as public services, cybersecurity, data protection, emergency telecommunications and infrastructure sharing), and digital economy policy agenda (includes framework for digital transformation and taxation framework).  

Based on the ITU’s ICT Regulatory Tracker 2022, only three African countries (Libya, Ethiopia and Eritrea) were classified as countries with G1 type of regulation. In these countries, the same entity approves the ICT regulator’s budget, appoints the Members/Head, and requires reporting, and telecom services are under a full monopoly of the state. In Ethiopia, for example, a separate telecom regulator is in place, but has no autonomy in decision making. 22 African countries were ranked as G3 or having enabling ICT regulations. For instance, Tanzania joined the G3 group, as the country has a separate telecom regulator with full autonomy, its budget is approved by 2 different entities, which also appoint the Members/Head, and require reporting. The ICT market is considered competitive and loosely controlled, which leaves room for innovations. 

Nine countries are classified as having converged regulatory bodies (G3), while 15 are in the G2 group with market liberalization. These figures coincide with the level of readiness for collaborative regulation. As of 2023, no African country was classified by ITU as ‘leading’, or the utmost ready for G5 type of regulation. The majority (32 countries) were dubbed as ‘transitioning’, while 7 were labelled as ‘advanced’ in terms of collaborating regulation. For instance, Tanzania (‘transitional’, or G3) has established formal collaboration (through MOU or joint program or committee) with key regulatory bodies, including spectrum, broadcasting, cybersecurity, finance, competition, postal, consumer protection, and environmental authorities. However, significant gaps remain in partnerships with data protection, ICT regulators, energy, transport, health, education, and economic development sectors. The lack of collaboration in these areas may hinder digital transformation, regulatory coherence, and cross-sector innovation. 

On the other hand, Kenya (‘advanced’, or G4) has established formal collaboration with key regulatory bodies, including spectrum, cybersecurity, finance, competition, postal, and environmental authorities. Additionally, informal or semi-formal cooperation exists with energy, health, education, and economic development sectors. Notable gaps remain in broadcasting, data protection, ICT ministry, transport, and consumer protection. Strengthening cross-sector regulatory coordination could enhance digital governance, consumer rights protection, and policy alignment, ensuring a more harmonized digital ecosystem.